By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday overturned a previous ruling that had allowed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to keep its distinctive bat symbol for the national election next month, a setback for the party led by former prime minister Imran Khan.
The court restored the order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which had revoked the PTI’s electoral symbol on Dec. 22, saying the party had violated its own constitution and the election laws by holding flawed intra-party polls.
The PTI had challenged the ECP’s decision in the high court, which had granted it a temporary relief on Dec. 26 and suspended the ECP’s decision until Jan. 9.
But the ECP filed a review petition in the same court, arguing that the temporary relief was equivalent to final relief and that the court had overstepped its authority by interfering in the election process.
The high court agreed with the commission and said it had not been given a chance to present its case before the court issued the reprieve.
“In view of the above, the interim order of this court passed in favour of the writ petitioner/PTI is hereby recalled/vacated and consequently the ECP is directed to proceed with the election process as per its constitutional mandate […],” the order said in its order.
The ruling means that the PTI will lose its bat symbol, which has become a trademark of the party and its charismatic leader, Khan, who is widely known as the captain for his role in leading Pakistan to its only 50-over Cricket World Cup victory in 1992.
“The Peshawar High Court has announced its decision, the bat symbol has been taken back [from the PTI],” Khan’s lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha wrote on social media platform X. “The ECP’s decision has been restored but the nation should not be disappointed. We will be victorious on Feb. 8, God willing.”
The PTI said it will challenge the high court’s verdict in the Supreme Court, the highest judicial forum in the country.
The general election in Pakistan is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2024. It will be the third consecutive democratic transfer of power in the country’s history, which has been marred by military coups and political instability.
Khan, who is in prison since August after being convicted in a graft case, has accused the powerful military, the ECP, and his political rivals of colluding to keep him and the PTI away from elections.
The party’s leader, Gohar Khan, said the high court’s decision to take away the bat symbol from the PTI raised questions about the legitimacy of the election.
“If you take away the bat, the world will not recognize your election,” he told reporters outside Adiala Jail, where Khan is being held, shortly after the verdict was announced.
Khan said he was confident that the Supreme Court would restore the party’s symbol. “I have more than 90 percent faith that the Supreme Court will restore our bat.”
He added that if the Supreme Court did not reinstate the bat symbol, the party would have to contest the election under different symbols for each candidate, which would confuse the voters and undermine the democratic process.
“If even the Supreme Court does not reinstate our bat symbol, then obviously, every independent candidate is allotted his/her symbol… This will confuse the voters and they will also be disenfranchised,” Khan said. “Democracy will be the loser.”
He ruled out any possibility of the party boycotting the election. “We are not going to go toward a boycott in any scenario,” he said. “We will also plead with the Supreme Court that if they cannot allot us the bat symbol, then give us another.”
Election symbols are crucial in Pakistan, where the adult literacy rate is just 58 percent. The symbols help voters identify their preferred candidates and parties on the ballot papers, which do not have photographs or party names.
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